Fun in the sun!

Alli and I were able to go to St. George for a visit while Brian/Dada had finals.  Unfortunately, Brian didn't get a spring break this year because 3rd year dental students take care of the clinic while everyone else is out of town, darn it for him!

Now, I wasn't too up on going without him cause Alli is so full of fun on the airplane, but we got talked into it by Nana Snow.  She didn't have to do much bribing though cause Alli and I both were desperate(okay maybe just me) for some sunshine, and no snow.  So off we went!

The airplane ride wasn't as bad as I was thinking it was going to be, even with a 16 month old toddler who doesn't sleep anywhere but her bed.  Alli was a trooper, but it took lots of entertaining to keep her busy. Here is what I stuffed into my backpack minus all the snacks...

Videos, puzzles, books, magnet games, coloring books, velcro matching games, stickers, silly putty, and lots of snacks.  I felt like my backpack weighed over 50 lbs., but I made it fit!  Here's what worked best: stickers!  Alli would take a sticker and place it somewhere, pick it back off and re-stick it. We did have one small meltdown for about 1 minute when she started throwing the magnets and I took them away from her, but out came the stickers and tada, one happy toddler. Phew!  We made it in one piece and I still liked her when it was all over too:)

Here is what our week of warmth and sunshine included:

Being outside playing at the park with her cousins...

Alli AbSoLuTeLy loved being down at the "corrals" getting into all sorts of "clean" red dirt with horse apples(dried up poop), cow stuff and who knows what else :)  She had a great time cleaning off the horses with grandpa with her favorite toy-a curry comb of all things, feeding the cows, and riding in her boots. She was able to use all her animal sounds and put them to use: cow, horse, dog, cat, duck, rooster etc.  Oh, and Alli had a come-a-part when we took her off the horse, she may just be a cowgirl after all:)

The cousins were able to come and ride too which was a lot of fun!

Alli really liked my parents dogs too-Joe Joe and Ace, along with the black cat.  She had to pet and feed them everyday and anytime she didn't want to get in her car seat we would just say "do you want to go see Joe Joe?" and that would do the trick:)  Now everytime she sees or hears a dog she barks and says "doe doe" and gets really excited.  Its pretty cute and always brings a smile:)

We had such a good time and it was nice just to relax and let Alli play and play outside.  We left Columbus with snow on the ground so the sunshine was such fun! We were sad Brian couldn't come, but he had some fun of his own I hear (there were about 9 guys at our house all week "studying," but I have heard bits and pieces that there were a few other things going on too like push-up contests and other guy things that you can just imagine).  I'm glad I wasn't there to see it or smell it, ha!  Luckily when we got home, the house was clean of all remnants of whatever went on.  Anywho, Alli and I enjoyed some sunshine with family and we spent lots and lots of time outside playing, it was fantastic!  Thanks to all the family for a such great and relaxing visit!

*Oh and we made it home just in time for March Madness(Brian says its his favorite time of the year, he likes it even more than Christmas) so you can imagine what we will be watching the next few weeks-did everyone fill out their brackets?:)